Traditional western construction practices for wood based home building are typically directed towards assembling a frame, formed from studs, upon which sheeting is installed in the form of plywood for outside surfaces and drywall for inside wall surfaces. The frame is first constructed by carpenters in a piecemeal fashion wherein the various members are cut and fastened into position. With the frame in place, sheeting is applied to form the wall surfaces. The frame provides the structural strength of the structure as the vertical stud members assume the load of the constructed walls.
There are a number of disadvantages exhibited when using traditional western building techniques particularly in light of increasing material and labor costs. Stud material is typically harvested from a soft wood such as fir, which is also a principal component of the plywoods used. Although renewable, increasing demand for construction timber is increasing rapidly and outstripping the capacity for re-growth. Also, the typical western construction practices are labor intensive as a structure is constructed piecemeal on site, by a skilled crew necessitating both time and high labor cost. Further, there is considerable waste of raw materials as the building elements are fashioned to fit. Inconsistencies in the building practices of labor teams also introduce variability in quality. Increasing demands for energy efficient structures cast a less favorable light on frame built structures as the wall elements require additional insulation. Housing density increases demand higher sound insulation than typically provide by studded wall construction. More importantly, the use of quality wood, which is becoming increasingly scarce, presents increasing building costs. Therefore, what is needed is an improved building system which utilizes lower cost materials, reduced material quantity, efficient material use, low skill level for assembly, and short construction time.
Utilizing bamboo as a replacement for wood in load bearing construction materials has been problematic; however, bamboo has many advantages over wood as a raw material. Bamboo is generally lower cost than wood. Bamboo is fast growing requiring only 3 to 4 years before harvesting as timber grade bamboo, a growth time significantly less than wood. As compared to wood, bamboo has a higher rot resistance and resistance to insect infestation than most woods. Further bamboo has a higher level of carbon sequestration than most woods. Therefore, what is needed is an improved load bearing construction material and system principally utilizing bamboo while maintaining the bamboo culm structure largely in tact thereby capitalizing on the advantageous characteristics of bamboo timber while providing a material with substantially consistent and predictable dimensions and structural characteristics such as timber or other load bearing structural components.